KARNES CITY – Karnes County Judge Barbara Shaw hand delivered her resignation from the office of county judge to County Commissioner and County Judge Pro Tem James Rosales Friday afternoon. The resignation was also sent to County Commissioners Shelby Dupnik, Pete Jauer, Tracey Schendel, County Attorney Herb Hancock, District Attorney Rene Pena and Sheriff Dwayne Villanueva.

The resignation was delivered by hand to Rosales at 1:45 p.m. on Friday, March 14.

Shaw was defeated in the March 4 Democratic primary election by challenger Walter Long, Jr. who received 1,290 votes while Shaw received 641.

Shaw did not attend the meeting of Commissioners Court on Tuesday, March 11. When asked about her absence by someone in the audience at the meeting, Rosales said that he did not know why she was absent.

The Karnes Countywide reached out to Barbara Shaw Friday morning and during a brief phone interview asked her if she had resigned or planned to resign.

“Why don’t we answer those questions when it actually happens,” Shaw said.

According to Rosales, the resignation will not become effective until approved by Commissioners Court. A meeting of Commissioners Court is planned for Friday, March 21 at 9 a.m. at which time the court will consider taking action to accept Shaw’s resignation.

Details concerning the rest of the agenda and what possible action the court may take to appoint an interim county judge are still being worked out by county officials, Rosales explained.

The written resignation letter, Rosales explained, will not be made public by county officials until the item is brought up for consideration during a meeting of Commissioners Court. Rosales said he plans to read the letter aloud at that time.

County Attorney Herb Hancock confirmed that administrative assistant Sylvia Cortez also resigned as did Emergency Management Coordinator David Jalufka.

Hancock said an agenda for Friday’s meeting was expected to be posted Tuesday morning.

Under the law, Hancock explained, Commissioners Court can choose to appoint one of the commissioners as interim county judge, or they can appoint another individual to fill the vacancy until the newly elected county judge is sworn into office on Jan. 1, 2015.

Shaw emailed her resignation letter to The Karnes Countywide Sunday. (See attached for full resignation letter.)

“The increasing animosity between myself and the alleged ‘Karnes County Patriots’ has led to an increasingly hostile work environment for both myself and my admin assistant, Sylvia Cortez,” Shaw said in the letter.

The letter went on to list a number of elected officials and county employees Shaw claims were part of a group that participated in blogging and emails that Shaw described as “psychologically disturbing, childish and bizarre.”

The emails, which Shaw said were obtained through open records requests, contained “pure filth and garbage,” according to Shaw.

“This being said, I sincerely wish the county nothing but the best,” Shaw said in the letter. “I hope SB 1747 moves forward successfully. I’m positive H-E-B will be a huge success. Furthermore I hope the bond monies fulfill the jail, roads, and courthouse restoration.”

“Karnes County has been my home my whole life and I have a strong love for Karnes County,” Shaw said in the letter. “The right thing is not always the popular thing... Incidentally, I believe that each person should be accountable and responsible for their actions and what they do, please know that if I said or did something I meant it and I continue to stand behind it. No regrets and no looking backward.”